Desert Circuit From Mumbai in My Black Cheetah: Mahindra XUV500 W6

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In year 2016 I didn’t get a change to do any road trip due to some personal commitments, in the year end got some leaves approved thought to do Rajasthan desert circuit, this time wife says let’s stick to fewer places and spend some days there. Started research read few blogs and finalised on the plan as below:

Third Service of the car was done recently so no need to do a check-up before trip. I had done Mumbai – Udaipur/Chittorgarh 2 to 3 times in the past via Ahmedabad, this time I planned to do it via Indore.

On 23rd I worked from home thought to finish work early and rest for few hours before starting trip but was busy whole day and didn’t get rest, I initially planned to start on 23rd night around 9-10 pm but had concerns about the route safety, also was feeling tired, again planned to start around 2am but it again got shifted by 2 more hours, so finally started at 3:45am, it is a 4 lane divided highway, roads were empty crossed Kharegaon toll (after Thane on Nashik highway) around 4:15am, after that road was very good and traffic was sparse crossed Nashik (Dwarka circle) by 6:15am. This was first time I was driving beyond Nashik, roads here were in good condition but had lots of speed breakers, crossed Dhule by 8am, by then rats were playing kabaddi I needed breakfast, all restaurants in Dhule were closed (including Kamath). After Dhule we entered in MP and road was again in very good condition with no speed breakers but there were no decent food options, finally stopped at a small dhaba after Sendhwa, had poha and Aloo parantha (found it was oil fried). Just after Manpur there is a exit on left which goes to Chittorgarh crossed exit at 11:15am, it is again a 4 lane divided state highway with very good road condition and good food options, crossed Ratlam by 12:45pm and stopped for lunch after crossing Jaora, reached Chittorgarh by 4:15pm. Overall a very nice road found it better than Mumbai to Chittorgarh via Ahmedabad. Got fresh at hotel and left for light and sound show at Chittorgarh fort, show was at 7pm entry ticket Rs 100, it was nice 1 hour show had dinner at Meera restaurant (good non veg specially mutton) and retired for the day around 10pm.

After heavy breakfast left Chittorgarh at 9am, Chittorgarh to Nathdwara section of the road was 4 lane divided highway in good condition, crossed Nathdwara by 10am, joined NH-58 excellent 6 lane divided highway, road section between Nathdwara and Gomti Ka Chauraha has curvy roads I was feeling like playing NFS (Need For Speed) game. Took exit at Gomti-Ka-Chauraha around 10:45am and connected SH-16 which connects to Pali. SH-16 is an undivided highway but road condition was good and its scenic, took a break of 15 min at Desuri (around 11:15am), continued on the same road but by mistake after Nadol I took a wrong turn towards Jawali, road condition was pathetic lots of potholes and finally connected to NH-62 at Khod, wasted all my time in negotiating potholes. NH-62 is again a 4 lane divided highway with very good road condition, took an exit towards Jodhpur just before Pali and stopped for bio break at a petrol bunk. Reached Om Banna temple (or Bullet Baba temple) by 1pm and finally reached hotel at Jodhpur at 1:45pm.

Got fresh, had lunch and left for Umaid Bhawan Palace at around 3:30pm, Google showed us wrong directions and took us to a gate of palace which was reserved for Taj hotel guests, asked few guys and finally reached common entrance of the palace by 4pm, they have ample of parking there and entry ticket of palace was Rs 30 per person and Rs 40 for car parking. A very small section of the palace is open for public which houses a museum. Reached back to hotel and retired for the day by 10:30pm.

Very nice updates there.
Yes Maharashtra has too many Speed breakers rather than MP.
Also Google is notorious for wrong/Impossible directions, hence Google is banned from my Phones. It is always recommended to have a Pro/Paid/Better GPS App like Sygic-Map My India or Here Maps.

Very nice updates there.
Yes Maharashtra has too many Speed breakers rather than MP.
Also Google is notorious for wrong/Impossible directions, hence Google is banned from my Phones. It is always recommended to have a Pro/Paid/Better GPS App like Sygic-Map My India or Here Maps.

Thanks BHVM, I think so far the states I have traveled Maharashtra has worst roads and highest toll .

Today we planned to do local sightseeing, reached Mehrangarh fort by 10:30am, they have huge parking (Rs 40 parking charges) due to holiday season lots of tourists, got entry ticket Rs 100 each and Rs 100 for camera, unfortunately all guides were booked so took an audio guide (Rs 170 per instrument), Fort is massive from outside. It took 2hours to visit, I will let pics do talking.

After visit to fort we left for Jaswant Thada by 1:15pm, it is some 1km from fort. There you have limited parking (free parking), bought entry tickets (Rs 15 per person and Rs 25 camera). Jaswant Thada is cenotaph of royals, very nice structure clicked some pics it took us 45 min for visit, by the time it was 2:15pm and we didn’t had lunch (thanks to heavy breakfast) and sun was harsh, left for hotel, had lunch and took a nap.

In the evening planned to visit some roof top restaurants to catch good view of fort, for this you need to go to clock tower area which is main bazaar of Jodhpur and very congested, I let cheetah rest at hotel and booked Ola and same for driving back to hotel. Fort looks amazing in night with all lit up, after dinner retired for the day by 11pm.

Left hotel by 8:30am straight went to Mandore Garden (reached 9am), Mandore was the old capital of king, inside there is a mata temple and some more old structures, took us about 30min to visit, but this place was full of litter all around, it is not at all maintained and was also full of monkeys. They have paid parking but as we were early got parking just in front of gate, no entry fee for Mandore garden. After that went to Sachchiya Mata Temple, Osian, it is 70 km from Jodhpur, road is undivided but very good, reached temple by 10:30am took darshan and left for Bikaner around 11:15am. From temple Google was showing me some shortcut but I stick to main roads, went back towards Jodhpur till Umednagar and from there connected on Jodhpur – Bikaner highway before Netra, between Umednagar and Netra road was only 2 lane but was in decent condition. Jodhpur – Bikaner highway is an undivided highway with light traffic but road condition is good, landscape changes as you are nearing Bikaner. Stopped for lunch around 2pm after crossing Nagaur (break of 45min). After lunch went to Deshnok, it is famous for Karni mata temple (rat temple), reached there by 3:30pm, it is 2-3 km detour from main highway, they have enough parking just next to temple gate. Temple was undergoing construction, it took us 20min for visit and next stop was Camel National Research Centre reached there around 4pm, it is one of its kind in asia, they have variety of camels, entry fee Rs 30 per person and took a guide for Rs 100, centre opens daily between 2pm – 6: 30pm only, they have a milk parlor where you can try camel milk or its ice cream. Finally reached hotel by 5pm. Had dinner and retired for the day by 10pm.

Today we planned to do local sightseeing, reached Junagarh Fort by 11:45am, once again google took us to wrong place later took help from locals to reach fort entrance. Parked my car outside fort entrance but later found they have good number of parking inside fort. Bought entry tickets (Rs 50 per person) guide is included in it and tour starts every 15min, our tour started at 12:15pm, we were a group of 20-30 people. Fort is kept in very good condition and almost all rooms have lot of work to see, guide doesn’t give you much time for pics so visited fort again alone just for pics. After fort went to Prachina Museum (entry ticket Rs 30 per person) which is inside fort campus, this place could be skipped if you are tight on time. By then it was 2pm, had lunch and went to hotel to rest. In evening thought to go to market for sweets and bhujia, took car but got stuck very bad in the small roads of Bikaner, asked a shopkeeper and parker car at one of the parking behind fort and walked from there to market. Was back in hotel by 7pm. Hotel had evening program of rajasthani folk dance, had dinner and retired for the day by 10pm.

Left Bikaner at 10am, first went to gas station to fill up the tank. This route had sparse traffic, but due to road widening there were lots of diversions, otherwise road condition was good. Crossed Phalodi by 12:30pm and just before entering Pokhran stopped at railway crossing for 15min, crossed Pokhran and stopped for lunch at 2pm. Started after lunch at 2:30pm, Pokhran to Jaisalmer section, road was in bad state with lots of diversions & few under construction patches. Stopped at Jaisalmer war museum at 3:30pm, we spend some 30min there, it has lot of history. Entry ticker was Rs 20 per person, they have ample of parking (free). Finally reached hotel at 4:15pm. Took rest and retired for the day around 10pm.

Got up by 8am had breakfast and were ready by 10:30am, we stayed at Hotel “The Golden House”, it is a small hotel, boutique property of 10 rooms but very well decorated and close to most of the attractions, hotel owner Mukesh ji is great person, he also helped me in fine tuning itinerary. Food was amazing here (but only Veg). Plan was to cover Jaisalmer fort Mukesh ji arranged rickshaw for fort which was hardly 1-2 km. Reached fort by 11am, hired guide (Gopal ji) he was great, unlike other guides he gave us time to explore place and click pics. It took us 2-2.5 hrs to explore fort. Camera fee for Jain temple was Rs 50. I will let pics do talking.

It was almost 2pm by then and we were hungry hunt for good restaurant started luckily we got one with good city view, service was too slow but we were not in hurry. By the time we were done it was 3:30pm. Went to Bhang Shop just outside fort entrance. Had medium Bhang lassi, guy told me it will kick after 1 hour and will be there for next 3 hours. By the time I finished lassi it was 4pm.

We decided to visit Patwon ki haveli, took a rickshaw (Rs 50) reached there by 4:30pm. Took a guide there but that guy was useless. We were done by 5:30pm and by that time Bhang started showing its magic. Took a rickshaw to hotel and relaxed before situation gets out of hand.